My Quick Storage Ideas

Hello, my little Dragons!!!

I hope this post finds you all safe and well with what the world is experiencing at the moment! It has been a whirlwind of a week for myself, which is why it has taken me until now to get a post out to you all! I have not had much time to craft, unfortunately, as I have been dealing with a few personal things and with being isolated, it has made things a bit tricky as you can imagine!

But thankfully, we have Easter coming up this weekend and I have done all my shopping and we are prepared for the Easter Bunny to arrive! We can slow down and take a bit of time out before preparing for online learning for Term 2 of school, which will be a new challenge for my kids and myself!

I have, however, been able to do a bit of cleaning up in my craft room and I came across a cheap alternative to store my cardstock. I have quite a bit of 12x12 cardstock (which I think a lot of us would do) and I had it stored standing on its side, but I would find that sometimes it would curve over and I didn't want that to happen.

After a quick search online, I came across Officeworks Marbig Desktop Organisers which retail for $16.79 each.

These are quite sturdy once put together and this particular one can either be stored on its base or on its side. The inside dimensions are 395mm wide x 270mm high x 270mm deep, which is a perfect width for all 12x12 inch paper! Yes, the paper does hang over the edge by about 3cm but it also means that I'm not having to dig in deep for a page. I store it on my side on top of my trolley and it's a perfect hight to show all the papers and gives me ample room to pull them out too. And if I eve need to move it- there are handles on the side of the box that are reinforced for easy use. Win, win!

I am so happy with it, I may even go back and get another one for my loose designer paper! As you can see in the above photo- I still need to clean off the top which are scraps from previous projects, but there is enough room for it all, which I am REALLY happy with! I could even put some of my smaller papers in there- I have a 6x12 paper pad purchased from Target which I use for card bases along with some corrugated card stock from a while back that fits in there nicely together.

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Another paper storage idea, which I have been using forever, is the 12x13 stackable storage boxes. These sturdy boxes are great for papers that aren't used frequently or if you need to pack up every time you craft.

As you can see, I have 4 of these boxes all sorted into brands along with the papers I can't fit in sitting on top! My only concern with these is that they can get heavy if you have a lot of papers in them. Personally, I do struggle a little bit now as 5 years ago I broke my elbow. I had to have a metal plate put in there and so my weight capacity for lifting has diminished quite a bit compared to beforehand. But I am always looking for new ideas and who knows what will come out next?! For the time being, I have these containers which if you were wanting some for yourself, I can order into the store for you.

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Next up I have a quick little idea for storing your blank card bases! I made a little box just out of some cardstock and used some leftover chipboard to line the base and sides for stability. I also decorated it for some colour and it is perfect for holding my blank bases!

This one is for my smaller card bases and I have another one made up for my 6x6 card bases. I figure if it gets damaged or ripped over time, it won't be much for me to make a new one. So why not have a go yourself? And the bonus is- you can make it match your craft room decor! No mismatched colours! Perfection!

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The last storage items I will show you today are my Ink Pad Storage Box and my Embossing Folder storage boxes. I got the idea from the lovely Sam at Mixed Up Craft when she made the Ink Pad Storage Box. It was made out of Foam Board with 3 drawers for all her small ink pads! I decided to have a go at it and then I decided to use the leftover Foam Board to create some storage boxes for my Embossing Folders using the same papers I used for the ink box.

As you can see in the top photos, the storage box for my Ink Pads turned out wonderfully! It took a bit of time and effort and a VERY sharp knife to cut the foam board, but I was really please with it! I'll pop the link down below if you would like to have a try at one yourself! The two bottom photos are the embossing folders box. I wrapped the base piece of foam board with some paper, then just wrapped the outsides of the box to match. I made one for my 4x6 inch folders and then realised I had bigger ones that wouldn't fit! Duh! So I ended up making a 5x7 inch box as I only have one 6x6 embossing folder. If I do get more, I'll make another box to match the others. But for now, I am happy they are all in one place and easy to go through to find what I'm after.

Mixed Up Craft In Pad Storage Box: https://youtu.be/5GFWfyp--hw

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Just before I go, I actually made a big purchase for my craft room while Spotlight had their 30% off Fiskars products- I purchased a Fiskars ProCision Trimmer!!! Oh wow, this thing is amazing! It's self-sharpening and such a breeze to use! I'm a little in love and knew that as crafters, you would appreciate this since my family think I'm a little nutter about a tool!

It was a pricy item- $127.00 VIP with the 30% off (usually retails for $170.00), but well worth it since I've now got one trimmer that will last me for some time. If you're interested, keep an eye out on Spotlight's sales and you may get one cheap too!

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Well, I've taken up enough of your time today! I hope I have given you some ideas for your storage in your crafting space. I also encourage you to look at Mixed Up Craft's other storage videos to see some of the awesome ideas she has.

If you have any questions about today's blog post or anything else, please email me at thelittlepurpledragon@outlook.com

I would also like to wish everyone a safe and happy Easter and hope that the Easter Bunny makes a visit leaving lots of eggs for you all to enjoy!

Take care!

Sonya